Don’t let your church go the way of Blockbuster.
Two decades ago, Blockbuster’s physical stores dominated the movie rental business.
Along came a startup named Netflix. Blockbuster had every advantage—resources, reputation, reach—but they couldn’t adapt.
While Netflix leaned into new approaches, Blockbuster clung to the old.
Today, the former video rental giant is nearly out of business. Meanwhile, Netflix is a multibillion-dollar company.
It’s not that people stopped watching movies. They just changed how they were watching them.
And Blockbuster, once an industry giant, faded fast.
While your church may not be in freefall, many are struggling to gain altitude. The typical US church is shrinking in size, with median worship declining from 137 people in 2000 to 75 in 2023.
In the midst of this numerical decline, 53 percent of religious leaders seriously considered leaving pastoral ministry in 2023, up from an already astonishing 37 percent in 2020.
Perhaps you’ve felt it too.
As suggested in a 2021 Harvard Business Review article, your burnout may not be because of too much work. It might be because of too little impact.
Leaders like you need a better plan that offers practical hope. Maybe what you and your church need is a few months of fresh congregational momentum. Or perhaps, a more dramatic turnaround is required—either across the board or in a few key areas.
After all, turnaround is core to the good news of Jesus Christ. Two thousand years ago, when Jesus was crucified and sealed in a tomb, hope seemed dim. But in the most potent turnaround in all of history, Jesus was resurrected three days later and now offers us, and all of humankind, new life. As Christians, we are turnaround people.
Inspired by hard-working leaders like you, our Fuller Youth Institute team spent the past decade journeying with over 1,000 diverse churches who sought minor, moderate, and major changes. We also analyzed the top research on organizational change and studied noteworthy biblical leaders who successfully brought about transformation.
As a result, we’ve mapped how churches who successfully move into the future discern not just what needs to change, but how to bring about change. We call these Future-Focused Churches.These churches didn’t find revival by trying harder—but by trying differently. Here are three counterintuitive shifts they made:
Future-Focused Shift #1: Don’t start with why; start with who
We are fans of Simon Sinek’s work, and have often quoted his well-known “start with why” principle—the idea that organizations should begin by clearly identifying their purpose or mission. As we’ve spent time with churches who have successfully turned around, we agree: knowing your church’s mission is vital. It’s just not the first step.
You can’t really know your why if you don’t start with who. Knowing the gifts and passions of those who will accompany you helps you better discern why you’re on the journey in the first place.
Not only that, but you weren’t meant to lead change alone. People tend to support what they create, so you will have greater buy-in and momentum if your core team and congregation prayerfully discern your church’s future with you.
One large congregation in southern California who wanted to better love and serve young people felt stuck because of the age siloization typical in churches its size. Wanting to gather the right who, they assembled a diverse Transformation Team to help revive their struggling ministry with young adults. While they knew they needed a few young adults to help steer their journey, the bulk of the team were congregants over 30 who could help young adults intersect across the entire church.
As their pastor later reflected on what helped them become a Future-Focused Church, this Transformation Team enabled them to accomplish their goal of integrating young adults across the church and move from being program-driven to discipleship-driven.
Their story is a good reminder: Don’t just clarify your purpose—gather your people.
Future-Focused Shift #2: Don’t charge forward; first get your bearings
Once leaders gather the right who for the turnaround, they often default to quickly figuring out where they need to head and step on the gas pedal. While that might get some quick results, it doesn’t usually get the best results.
We agree with our Fuller Seminary colleague, Scott Cormode, that “leadership begins with listening.” When you are trying to bring new energy and direction to your community, it’s more important that people feel understood by you than that they understand you.
During our research on Future-Focused Churches, we studied a largely immigrant congregation with 100 members, only five of whom were children and teenagers. After assembling a Transformation Team to turn around their ministry with young people, that group next listened, both to God through prayer, and to congregants across the generations. A primary theme they heard from adults, especially their church board, was a lack of confidence that young people could truly lead or hold positions of real influence.
Empowered by new prospects opened by the Transformation Team, young people’s roles started small and then grew—sometimes unexpectedly. One adult leader, congratulating a teenager on great work as a church greeter, half-jokingly offered, “Maybe next you should preach a sermon.”
This adult wasn’t expecting the teen’s reply: “I’d love to do that!”
That adult had a choice—brush it off, or take the teen seriously. And in that moment, he leaned in. He approached the pastor and the teen’s parents, advocating for the young man to preach. He even offered to coach the teen himself.
It would’ve been easier to laugh it off. But he didn’t. He listened—and responded with belief.
That sermon—one of the shortest sermons in recent church memory—sparked something. It helped open the door for other young people to preach and lead churchwide, not just watch.
Five years later, not only has the church grown, they’ve raised up a new generation of leaders. They now have 40 children and teenagers who are active members shaping the life of the church. These young congregants aren’t just halfhearted attendees; they’re active contributors who lead prayer sessions, participate in worship services, guide multimedia, and even give input in board meetings. This isn’t just youth engagement—it’s youth ownership.
Future-Focused Shift #3: Don’t aim for massive changes in the middle; experiment on the edges
It’s tempting to assume turning around a church means seeking reform in the highest-profile ministries—like the worship service. Based on our research with Future-Focused Churches, we recommend resisting that temptation and instead pursuing “experiments from the edges,” meaning initial (often smaller) changes in less public areas to test what works and gain crucial momentum.
Keegan, a youth pastor with limited authority, wanted to make his church more intergenerational. He started where he could—the church’s beloved summer mission trip to Guatemala. Starting with this trip wouldn’t catalyze immediate widespread change, but generating energy at the edges of the church was better than no momentum.
Keegan and another pastor intentionally recruited a diverse blend of sixty participants—19 teenagers and 41 adults over 30. At every training meeting, Keegan explained why and how all generations were going to serve together, but few adults caught the vision.
In the third preparation meeting, Bill, a mission trip adult skeptical of working with teenagers, raised his hand and asked, “Keegan, how much time will I have to spend with teenagers before you stop bugging me about it?”
Everyone laughed, but the resistance was real. Keep in mind, he asked this in front of 19 teenagers!
Not a very promising sign.
By the time the group boarded planes for Guatemala, Keegan figured only five out of the 41 adults truly grasped why intergenerational relationships mattered. But even five was a start. As the trip unfolded, their enthusiasm became contagious.
By the end of the third service day, the leader at one of the building sites raised his hand to commend the teenagers. The teenagers had been so amazing that he wanted more of them assigned to his group.
That construction leader was Bill.
God used this enthusiasm from Bill and the rest of the adults on the Guatemala trip to catalyze intergenerational turnaround when they returned back home. An out-of-the-box idea became central to the fabric of the church as threads of the mission trip wove their way through the relationships, programs, and culture of the entire congregation.
You don’t have to overhaul everything at once. But you do have to take a step. Ask: Who are the right people to start this journey with? Where do we need to pause and listen? What small, faithful experiment could open up to a larger work of renewal?
These shifts aren’t easy. But they’re doable. And they’re worth it—because the church isn’t just surviving history. In Christ, we’re part of the greatest turnaround story the world has ever known.
Pastors, remember: The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you and in your church (Rom. 8:11). You don’t lead in your own strength alone. The God who brings life out of tombs is still in the business of resurrection.
So take heart. Renewal isn’t just a strategy. It’s our story.
Your church doesn’t need to go the way of Blockbuster. Whatever the type and size of change your church needs, you hope in the God of all turnarounds. With God leading you forward, the best days of your church are still ahead.
Kara Powell is the chief of leadership formation at Fuller Theological Seminary, the executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute, and the founder of the TENx10 Collaboration.
Jake Mulder is the assistant chief of leadership formation at Fuller Seminary, executive director for the non-degreed online Christian leader training platform FULLER Equip, and senior adviser for the Fuller Youth Institute and TENx10 Collaboration.
Raymond Chang is the executive director of the TENx10 Collaboration (part of Fuller Seminary), which is a collaborative movement that is geared toward reaching ten million young people over ten years with the gospel.
This article is adapted for CT Pastors by the authors, from their book Future-Focused Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2025).
